The bottom line is clear: Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them. On the contrary, waging a lengthy counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan may well do more to aid Taliban recruiting than to dismantle the group, help spread conflict further into Pakistan, unify radical groups that might otherwise be quarreling amongst themselves, threaten the long-term health of the U.S. economy, and prevent the U.S. government from turning its full attention to other pressing problems. -- Afghanistan Study Group

Friday, February 25, 2011

Hilla:#1: Gunmen opened fire at a security checkpoint manned by a government-backed militia, killing two militia members and wounding another in northern Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Kirkuk:#1: Two policemen were wounded in a bomb blast in south of Kirkuk on Friday, according to a security source. “An improvised explosive device went off on Friday (Feb. 25) targeting a police vehicle patrol in al-Touz district, south of Kirkuk, injuring two policemen and damaging their car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Three policemen were wounded when a mortar round landed near police station in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Al Anbar Prv:#1: Six members of one family were killed when unknown gunmen attacked their house Friday, security sources said. The attack took place in Falluja, 60 km west of Baghdad. Some members of the family worked with the Sahwa militia, the security sources said.

#2: A civilian man was killed in an attack by gunmen in eastern al-Falluja city on Thursday, a local police source in al-Anbar province said. “Unidentified gunmen opened light weapons fire on a civilian who was getting out of his house in al-Bu Khalifa area, central al-Karma district, eastern Falluja, leaving him dead,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The civilian man was identified as the brother of the tribal chief of al-Karma,” he said, adding the police started a probe into the incident.

#3: Eight people were killed and 12 others, including a senior official, wounded in an initial count of casualties from a deadly blast in the city of al-Ramadi on Thursday, a security source said. “A suicide bomber’s attack took place on 17 street, central Ramadi, leaving eight, including two policemen, killed and 12 others, including the deputy governor of al-Anbar Hikmat Jassem, wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The bomber targeted a gala celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday.

“Deaths from the Ramadi blast rose to 13, including three policemen, and the wounded to 23, including four policemen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: Militants in Pakistan attacked tankers bringing fuel to NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan on Friday, killing four people in the latest strike on an important supply line to the Western-led war. Around 15 militants armed with rockets and guns stormed a roadside terminal on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar. At least 12 tankers were set ablaze in the attack, said police officer Liaquat Ali Khan. The dead men were drivers or their assistants, he said.

#2: At least six people were killed Thursday evening when two U.S. drones fired missiles into the northwestern Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan, local sources said. In the first strike, four missiles were fired at a suspected militants hideout at the Data Khel area near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan locals said. Shortly after the attack killed four people, a second pilotless aircraft landed two missiles at the same area, targeting a vehicle and killing two people near the border with Afghanistan.